Labor outmuscles Opposition on committee call

by Sarah Vogler

1st Nov 2018 11:10 AM

LABOR has used its numbers for a second time to stop an Opposition push for a bipartisan committee to be set up to investigate contempt allegations levelled at Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk rather than the Ethics Committee.

Speaker Curtis Pitt this month referred allegations levelled at Ms Palaszczuk over her moves to cut the extra staff she had previously granted the Katter's Australian Party during the hung parliament to the Ethics Committee for investigation.

Ms Palaszczuk cut the staff after the KAP failed to denounce now dumped Senator Fraser Anning's contentious final solution speech.

The matter was initially referred to the Crime and Corruption Commission for investigation with the CCC suggesting it should be up to Parliament to decide.

Mr Pitt subsequently announced he was referring Ms Palaszczuk on the grounds her repeated comments about KAP may amount to threats, intimidation, molestation of a member, compulsion to menace and improper influence.

He stressed at the time that the referral did not amount to an assumption of guilt or innocence.

Ms Palaszczuk had written to the Speaker insisting her comments about the KAP staffing cuts did not amount to a breach of the rules.

The Ethics Committee's membership includes three Labor MPs and three LNP MPs with Labor holding the chairing role.

The LNP is pushing for a select committee of Ethics to be established, made up of equal numbers of government and opposition MPs as well as a crossbencher, to investigate the allegations instead.

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington initially attempted to move her motion last parliamentary sitting week, gaining the support of all six crossbench MPs but failed given Labor's majority on the floor of the House.

Ms Frecklington again attempted to move the motion this morning with the same result.

Mr Pitt warned the Opposition it would not be able to make a third attempt to move the motion.

"The Opposition have twice sought to seek leave to move the motion. They also, of course, have an opportunity each sitting week to put a motion on notice and debate that said motion," he told the House.

"In light of those points, with regards to any future attempts to seek leave for this motion, I will be enabling the same question rule and I will be ruling it out of order."

The Opposition used its motion this week to call on Parliament to condemn Health Minister Steven Miles.